On Writing a Mystery

What is there about mystery novels? Do we want to pit our skills against the fictional detective or ordinary citizen who always happens to find herself in the vicinity of a body?  Not any body, but one that demands an investigation.

Are we engaged and emboldened by following clues, second guessing, eliminating potential suspects, and setting up a thesis?

Occasionally I think that I'd like to write a mystery, but I'm squeamish.  I don't cotton to the cozy mystery where the murder takes place in three lines and the body discovered in two lines.

I notice that many writers take advantage of an area of expertise and create a mystery around that knowledge base. We have mysteries where the detective creates quilts, drinks different types of tea, knits, repairs old Victorian houses, builds doll houses, is the owner of a coffee house, bakes sweets, or or or...

Should I create a special needs teacher who talks about dyslexia and syndromes and spectrums and the teaching of reading? How will I find murdered subjects for my stories?

Perhaps I'll stick to following red herrings and attempt to find the culprit before the author reveals the end.